The Steam family just got bigger with Valve announcing a trio of innovative devices that are sure to be the beginning of awesome things to come from the platform. While Steam’s presence on PCs and the Steam Deck has done well to make it a formidable presence in modern gaming, we believe that this new move could be a path to creating a gaming ecosystem that could work very well for its players.
But why is that? What do these new devices bring to the table that their competitors don’t? How do they integrate with your existing Steam account and devices? Are they worth your hard-earned cash?
Join us as we take a look at the Steam Frame, Steam Machine, and the new and improved Steam Controller. Prepare for some great surprises from Valve, and perhaps gain some insight into whether these gizmos are a worthy purchase.
The Steam Frame – Your Steam Library in Virtual Reality
Let’s begin with the Steam Frame. This standalone VR headset is literally a PC, and is a cool addition to the Steam lineup, bringing VR capabilities to the platform and taking the fight to the likes of the Meta Quest 3 and PSVR2. Its list of innovations is quite intriguing, thanks to its implications.
But let’s start with the obvious. This one’s packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 ARM64 4nm mobile chipset alongside 16GB Unified LPDDR5X RAM memory, and 256GB/1TB of expandable storage options. The Frame also marks the first time SteamOS runs outside of the Steam Deck and PCs, and this version of it brings some interesting touches to the table, which we’re diving into in just a minute.
There are dual mics and pancake lenses in the front, dual integrated speakers on the sides, and a 21.6W battery in the back, while four monochrome cameras on the exterior track the Frame Controller’s positioning. You heard that right, the Frame comes with its own controllers that do the job of a full-fledged one quite well. They’re also equipped with TMR thumbsticks, which reduce the likelihood of stick drift and dead zones while being more power efficient than Hall Effect ones.
They’ve got capacitive finger sensors, haptic feedback, and about 40 hours of action from one AA battery. You could also hook the Frame up to your Steam Controller if you so desire. If you’re worried that those specs come with a hefty weight, the Frame is quite lightweight at 435 grams, making it significantly lighter than both the Meta Quest 3 and PSVR2. That’s an advantage considering that this one’s been designed for long gaming sessions, and its versatility on the software side of things.
This is where things get interesting for the Frame. Not only is it capable of running a bunch of great VR titles from the Steam store, but you also get to play any title from your Steam library that comes with gamepad support. What’s more, your expandable storage lets you install games on a MicroSD card using a PC, Steam Deck, or the new Steam Machine and seamlessly run it on the frame.
What’s more, you can also stream titles from a more powerful machine, with the Frame using a little bit of trickery to get by. It’s a technique called foveated streaming. To keep things simple, it’s the Frame’s way of ensuring you get a brilliant picture by focusing the bulk of its resources towards the frame you’re looking at while rendering other frames in the background, ready to pop up into your view should you look their way.
So, how does this new headset compare against the likes of Meta Quest 3 and PlayStation VR 2? From a headset specs, Steam Frame lands as the most “PC-style” display of the three while mixing elements from both PSVR2 and Quest 3. It’s 2160 x 2160 LCD panels per eye actually edge out both Sony’s PSVR2 (2000 x 2040 per-eye OLED at 90/120Hz) and Meta’s Quest 3 (2064 x 2208 per-eye LCD at 90–120Hz), and it goes a step further with an experimental 144Hz mode on top of the usual 72-120Hz range.
It uses pancake lenses for a slimmer shell and cleaner clarity, whereas PSVR2 sticks with Fresnel optics, trading some lens artifacts for the contrast of an OLED. Steam Frame and PSVR2 share a key high-end feature Quest 3 lacks: built-in eye tracking for foveated rendering/streaming via their IR cameras.
Quest 3 hits back on the mixed-reality side, with high-resolution RGB cameras, while both Steam Frame and PSVR2 only offer monochrome passthrough feeds from their outward-facing tracking cameras. However, the Frame takes the lead in some departments: four external mono cameras plus two eye-tracking cameras, IR support for low-light tracking, and a front expansion port that can take extra high-speed cameras or a PCIe Gen 4 module.
With all of this going for it, the Steam Frame is sure to take the fight to its competition, and perhaps even surge ahead in the process. And maybe the Steam Machine could be a part of that success.
The Steam Machine – A Capable, Console-Spec Device
The Steam Machine is six times faster than the Steam Deck, and is Valve’s answer to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, bringing a very practical form factor to the space while remaining uncompromising on its specs. How did the Machine pull that off? The answer lies in its design.
In contrast to the PS5’s imposing design, the Steam Machine prefers to keep things classy. It’s essentially a six-inch cube that acts as a gaming PC for your living room, letting you enjoy your Steam library with FSR-enabled 60fps gameplay that targets 4K resolution at 60fps. Interestingly, its design was built around the heat that its attractive spec sheet produced, and the cube’s final dimensions were decided based on optimal cooling.
With a 140mm fan and suitably placed inlets allowing for some solid heat dissipation, Valve does deserve a pat on the back for its subtle yet attractive design for the Steam Machine. But those components aren’t aiming for subtlety at all. There’s a semi-custom 6-core Zen 4 CPU, 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, a semi-custom AMD RDNA 3 GPU with 28 CUs, and 512GB/2TB of built-in storage, depending on the model you select. There’s also a MicroSD slot that allows you to seamlessly transfer games across your devices.
Keeping in mind that this one’s meant to be used with a TV, there are multiple input options with supported DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 compatibility, ethernet connectivity, a 10Gbps USB-C port, and four USB-A ports. That’s a lot of options at your disposal, and you even get to use this one as a PC if you like, as it’s compatible with Windows as well as SteamOS.
There’s also HDMI-CEC to let you power on your TV with the Machine, along with a sleep/wake function. It even comes with its own rest mode, letting you download games or updates in the background while it is powered down. A customizable LED on the front lets you keep track of things while it’s in this state.
Compared to a base PS5 and Xbox Series X, this Steam Machine comes across as a CPU-forward, GPU-trimmed configuration with a more PC like memory setup (kind of expected, it’s literally a PC). On the GPU side, 28 RDNA 3 compute units at a 2.45 GHz sustained clock leave it behind the PS5 and especially the Series X in sheer shader muscle, so you’d expect it to favour 1440p or slightly reduced settings versus their typical 4K ambitions unless it leans hard on modern upscalers. The memory design, 16 GB of DDR5 system RAM plus 8 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM, also shifts priorities: it’s excellent for multitasking, but that fixed budget may become a tighter bottleneck than the consoles’ unified 16 GB GDDR6 pool as games keep ramping up technological demands.
On the CPU side, it’s a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 processor running up to 4.8 GHz, and should comfortably outclass the consoles’ older 8-core Zen 2 chips in per-core performance and responsiveness, even if they still have the edge in total core count for workloads.
When you think of the Machine as a device working in tandem with your Deck or Frame, it’s easy to see how switching to Steam from another platform can be an avenue to having your entire library of games at your fingertips, no matter where you are, and how you’d like to enjoy them. And speaking of enjoying your games, the new Steam Controller might have something of interest to you!
The Steam Controller – A New Touch On An Old Design
The folks over at Valve clearly haven’t given up on the original Steam Controller, but have been diligent in ensuring that their new take balances the original design with modern sensibilities. The result is a controller that looks quite capable and brings a very unique touch to its design.
With traditional thumbsticks placed atop the original controller’s dual touchpads, the Steam Controller certainly stands out. The touchpads are now ever so slightly inclined inward, a design choice that’s intended to support long-term use. Like the Frame Controller, the thumbsticks come with magnetic TMR sensors, while there are four rear buttons – a feature that the Steam Controller’s competitors restrict to their Pro versions.
There are dual high-fidelity motors taking care of the Controller’s haptics, while Valve has decided to make this one an appealing option for players who like to use their gyroscopes. Grip Sense, the Steam Controller’s onboard software, activates its gyroscopes based on how you’re holding your controller, making for a very seamless transition between your use of buttons and the gyro.
While it remains to be seen if the Steam Controller can dethrone the DualSense in this generation of gaming hardware, the fact that it now exists is certainly a sign of good things to come for those of you who do like the option of a versatile gamepad in addition to your keyboard and mouse setups.
Its included dongle makes charging it up a breeze while also allowing it to connect with up to four other Controllers with low latency for some great multiplayer fun. And with 35 hours of battery life on a full charge, you’re going to be in the thick of it for a while. If you’re worried about losing your dongle, have no fear as it clips to the back of the Controller. They really did think of everything.
From a head-to-head perspective with Sony’s DualSense and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X|S controllers, the new Steam Controller is much more of a “precision / PC input” device than a traditional gamepad. With four LRA haptic motors split between its twin trackpads and the grips, it can deliver more feedback than the Xbox’s classic rumble, and it can rival the DualSense’s advanced haptics, though Sony still has the unique edge of adaptive triggers for variable resistance.
The capacitive “grip sense” is the real differentiator, enabling mouse-like aiming and finger detection that neither console controller really matches (which is kind of a given to be fair). On the connectivity side, the low-latency 2.4 GHz puck with ~4 ms polling, plus Bluetooth and USB-C tethering, puts it right in line with or may be a tad ahead of the PS5 and Xbox controllers’ Bluetooth + USB-C options, while the 8.39 Wh built-in battery rated for 35+ hours, if true in practical situations, is simply outstanding.
A New Triple Threat?
This new step from Valve could be a welcome disruption to the gaming hardware space, forcing Sony and Microsoft to up their game as we approach a new generation of consoles in the coming years. The Frame and Machine are certainly powerful devices that bring a sort of utility that’s perfect for Steam users.
But what about the rest? Can these beasts be enough to capture some ground from some well-established, equally capable consoles? What does 2026 hold for Steam and its rivals? What will they be priced at? What will availability be like?
Time will answer those questions, but in the meantime, it’s time to wait with bated breath for a trio that’s sure to bring a lot of smiles to those who decide to pick them up.
As things stand today, the Steam Frame, Machine, and the new Controller are a welcome step in the right direction for the platform, and are capable devices with excellent value propositions for existing users while being enticing enough to catch the eye of those on other platforms.
